Menu

Blog

Page 8184

Jan 27, 2020

The unexpected renaissance of the hard science-fiction movie

Posted by in categories: entertainment, space travel

What defines the last decade’s hard science-fiction is a tendency to use process-oriented survival dramas to gain a personal understanding of the role of scientific inquiry and the big picture questions it poses.


From The Martian to Interstellar to Gravity, the 2010s was a comeback era.

Jan 27, 2020

Maine woman stalked

Posted by in categories: drones, habitats

GORHAM, Maine (AP) — A Maine woman who was harassed by a drone for two days says police told her they could do nothing about it.

Mary Dunham says a drone tracked her in her car on Tuesday as she drove to a gas station, where she called police, and then to her home in Gorham. It followed her eight miles to her brother’s house in Standish the following day.

It was an “unnerving” experience, she said. “The officer arrived and said, ‘Yeah, I see it. I don’t know what to tell you though. We can’t do too much,’” she said.

Jan 27, 2020

Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, genetics, life extension

If you are interested in superlongevity, I have a spectacular book for you: Lifespan — Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To, by David Sinclair PhD.

Sinclair has written a book about all the various ways in which humans can extend their lifespan and their healthspan.

One of the best aspects of this book is that Sinclair has a way of writing that is clear and insightful. It is so rare for me to read a book about scientific experiments in which it is easy to follow the methodology, but it is unique to also have an explanation of the application of the results that is crystal clear. Sinclair does both simply and easily.

Continue reading “Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To” »

Jan 27, 2020

Inovio’s stock soars after receiving grant to develop coronavirus vaccine

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, health

The Pennsylvania-based biotechnology company said early Thursday that it was awarded a grant of up to $9 million by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine for the new strain of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, which originated in Wuhan, China, and has killed no less than 17 people.

Kim said after the DNA sequence of the new coronavirus strain was made publicly available on Jan. 11, Inovio was able to design and construct a potential vaccine in “a matter of hours,” and the animal-testing process has already begun.


As the coronavirus out of China spreads and gets deadlierof health care companies that announce plans to take part in finding a vaccine, or identifying patients with the new strain, have rallied sharply in very active trading.

Continue reading “Inovio’s stock soars after receiving grant to develop coronavirus vaccine” »

Jan 27, 2020

Global Stocks Fall as Dangerous Coronavirus Spreads

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics

Breaking News: Global stocks tumbled and oil prices fell as the spread of a dangerous virus in China raised investor worries about the world economy.


European stocks slid and U.S. futures were down amid concern that the coronavirus could hurt the global economy.

Jan 26, 2020

Happy Lunar New Year from Hubble

Posted by in category: space

Hubble welcomes the Year of the Rat with a view of its own favorite rodents, NGC 4676A and B, and highlights the planetary origins of the Chinese zodiac’s 12-year timetable.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Bradley A Hague (GSFC intern): Producer / Editor.

Jan 26, 2020

Timeline for Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites

Posted by in category: satellites

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is scheduled to lift off Monday at 9:49 a.m. EST (1449 GMT) from the Complex 40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Falcon 9 will head northeast from Cape Canaveral over the Atlantic Ocean to place the 60 Starlink satellites into a circular orbit around 180 miles (290 kilometers) above Earth. The satellites will use their ion thrusters to maneuver into their higher orbit for testing, before finally proceeding to an operational orbit at an altitude of approximately 341 miles (550 kilometers).

Jan 26, 2020

GPS system upgrade utilizes AI to make sure you’re in the right lane

Posted by in categories: mapping, robotics/AI, transportation

In-car satnav systems and mobile mapping apps have made it much easier to travel from one place to another without getting lost, but a new innovation promises to help fix a remaining pain point – getting in the right lane at intersections.

Today’s mapping apps aren’t always much help if you’re at an unfamiliar intersection and aren’t sure exactly where on the road your car is supposed to be: the apps often don’t have the detail or the knowledge to warn you in good time about changing lanes.

The system developed by researchers at MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute uses satellite imagery to augment existing mapping data, but the smart part is applying artificial intelligence to work out the layout of roads hidden by trees and buildings.

Jan 26, 2020

A man diagnosed with Wuhan coronavirus near Seattle is being treated largely by a robot

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI

The first person diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus in the United States is being treated by a few medical workers and a robot.

The robot, equipped with a stethoscope, is helping doctors take the man’s vitals and communicate with him through a large screen, said Dr. George Diaz, chief of the infectious disease division at the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington.

Jan 26, 2020

Could Israeli startup help stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus?

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

An #Israeli startup is hoping to help stop the spread of the deadly #coronavirus by shipping meters of anti-pathogen fabric to produce face masks or other protective clothing to #China.


“We see an epidemic,” said Liat Goldhammer-Steinberg, CTO of Sonovia Ltd., an Israeli company whose technology is based on a lab scale sonochemical process that was developed at Bar-Ilan University. “We have the ability to help prevent the virus from spreading.”

Continue reading “Could Israeli startup help stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus?” »